Cruelty of Smiling Silence
by 8DRainbowManVan8D
Summary: The house across my street is always so quiet, never a soul coming or going. But I know there is someone there. There is a sad, completely irritating man trapped in that awful house full of terrible memories. I can only hope I can pull him out and save him from the suffocating silence constantly haunting him; a hell full of silent smiles. Well... If I don't kill him myself first...
1. Chapter 1

A new story. Don't worry. This one is already completely written. Also, will have shorter chapters due to myself trying a new style of writing. This is an experiment. Also, this will be updated once a week so long as I am able.

Thank you everyone for your time. Please, enjoy.

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Cruelty of Smiling Silence

Every neighborhood has that one house that is creepy and no one ever sees anyone leave, but they all know someone lives there. Typically, they're at the end of the block out of sight and mind for the most part, right? Not ours. Our neighborhood 'what-the-fuck' house is smack dab in the middle and right across the street from mine.

It's not really an eyesore because the lawn is kept maintained and the garden is always flourishing, the landscaping crew is pretty damn awesome. But, who even lives there? Is it a crack house under cover? Although, I never see anyone come in or leave. Even the car in the driveway never leaves. I mean, what's the point of having one if it's never used? Pointless!

Well shit, let me backtrack a bit; really getting ahead of myself here. I just recently moved into the neighborhood with my best frenemy about six months ago. My frenemy is an absolute psycho, Shiro. If you're not hearing some form of argument coming from our walls, then we're obviously not home. I swear we would fight in our sleep if it were possible.

But damn it, that is not the point I'm trying to make right now. _The point_ that I'm trying to make is that that house bothers me. I can't _not_ watch it. There's something about it that just calls my constant attention to it. Absolutely drives me bat shit! Ha! And you know what's the real kicker? I now have a reputation amongst my neighbors, more specifically among the old grandmotherly persuasion… Cannot tell you how many cookies I've forced down.

Why, you might ask, would I put myself through the gossip and endless numbers of tooth rotting sweetness? Well, for answers. These people have been here for years! Any bit I can get on that house is like a shot of adrenaline! So I put on my best behavior, choke down the cookies all the while screaming in my head.

Shiro has likened me to a nosy old broad more times than is healthy for him. He has even taken to calling me a Lady Killer. Which, you know would be great if the women weren't close to three times my age. It makes me shudder just thinking about it. Urrrrgh…

Fuck, another tangent. See what this torture does to me? And for all my nosing about and whatever, all I've learned is that the man who lives there has been there for 15 years, is very quiet, and that it was so sad what happened to him. When badgered for more info, these loose lipped hags suddenly can't pry open their chops. Same answer every time.

" _Sorry, it's not my place to say. But such a tragedy, for sure. Such a sad, sad state of affairs."_

I swear to _god_ it's like they do it just to peak my interest more and drive me absolutely _mad!_ It practically makes my skin crawl to think about it. Shiro has more or less given up on telling me to not give a shit and instead tells me to just focus on work.

That mentioned, maybe I should bring up that we both make ends meet by unusual standards. He… well he dresses up as a creepy clown in an alternative nightclub to perform 'magic shows.' When he isn't doing that, the guy sells incense and other earthy shit like gem stones and pottery and fuck all. And myself?

I'm a martial arts stunt man. What the fuck right? How the hell did we end up meeting each other and moving in together, right? Well, I moved into his neighborhood as a kid and was introduced to the only kid my age by our parents. It was hate at first sight.

But he stuck like an STD and here we are, still bickering like an old couple. Speaking of, this fight we are currently having is actually relevant…

"God damn it, Grimm! You need ta leave this fricken house alone! Always wit' da creepy starin'! I bet ya my left nut that this sum bitch is watching you back through the blinds. It's like some creepy, crappy love story where the two leads pine after each other without the other knowin'. Fuckin' weirdos."

The pale man had his hands on his hips, his teeth on display in an aggrieved grimace. He had his fangs in, his fucked up clown make up on, and his freaky ass black and gold contacts in… And he was calling me a damn weirdo. I glared at him.

"What room have you to speak, fuckwad? Look in a damn mirror, you're like a damn horror film gone wrong and – in trying to fix it – they added too many piercings! At least my issue is a normal one!"

Shiro jerked back as if stricken before he burst out in incredulous angry laughter. "The fuck you spoutin'? What I do is part of a flourishing sub-culture! You! You are just bein' plain creepy! At least people think I'm cool and some even think I'm sexy! Everyone will just think you're a creep psycho motherfucker!"

I glared more harshly, our voices steadily getting louder. "What woman in her right mind would find a man in stockings and corsets sexy?!"

"Several! In fact, several have propositioned me and guess who's been gettin' laid recently! Here, let me help ya narrow it down. It's someone who lives in this house and it certainly isn't you!"

Blanching in anger, I sputter. "What? You think I don't receive offers with a body like mine?! I practically have to beat the women off with a stick!"

"Well, ya shouldn't be!"

Somehow, not sure when, but we had moved closer and were nose to nose and panting in each other's face. But after that statement, he sighed and his shoulders slumped. Shiro lifted a hand and rubbed at his brow, smearing his face paint a bit.

"Just… this damn house is makin' ya crazy Grimm. I've never seen ya turn down anyone before. But this _house_ … This past month alone… it's gettin' serious, Grimm. You need ta go out and do something stupid, okay? For god's sake, I didn't move out here to live with a psycho killer, damn it!"

Silence reigned as he stared me down, a soft scowl on his face. Was creepy as fuck with his costume completely in place. But, he had a point I suppose. Turning from him slightly, I gave a soft sigh.

"Just fuckin'… just get ready for work and leave, Shiro. I'll get my shit together on my own."

He glared at me as if I had personally offended his mother or something and stormed off. We didn't say another word to each other before he left, slamming the door closed, and squealing out of the driveway.

But, I couldn't get his words out of my head.

In fact, they haunted me long after he had come home from work at the crack of five A.M. and well past into the week, distracting me from work and causing my black eye accident. Not me, of course… But my co-worker's. Oops, right?

Either way, I finally decided to take his words to heart. After pulling home from work a little over two weeks later, I sat in the car staring at the house behind me, contemplating. The groceries that are sent to the house at the back door were gone, so the guy was definitely home. I stepped out from my car, just as I heard our door open.

"Grimm, what the hell are you lookin' at? Usually you're more subtle about your ogling."

Ignoring my roomie, I shut my car door and began determinedly across the street, practically marching. I heard Shiro stumble a bit behind me.

"Grimm? Grimm! What the hell are you _doing?! Grimmjow!"_ He sounded more and more urgent; I could hear bare feet slap at the cement before stopping at the edge of our sidewalk. "Dude, get back here!"

Being an expert at ignoring him, I did so and finished crossing the street and climbed up the creepy house's driveway. Shiro cursed under his breath and ran across after me. He froze at the driveway edge as I started knocking.

Holy shit, what was I doing? Was I really doing this?! … I was really doing this… We were both holding our breath as we waited for an answer. Silence followed, excluding the typical sounds of neighborhood life; like dogs and shit. Finally, I heard the sound of a dead bolt being yanked open, another three locks following. Wondering at the excessive number of locks, I almost missed the door swinging only partially open, a lock chain keeping it from going further.

I saw Shiro jump in surprise from behind me in the driveway.

And then, an irritated brown eye peaked out from behind the door, orange strands of hair hanging in the way.

"Yeah? What ya want?" The voice was deep and scratchy from lack of use or as if the man had just woken up from a deep sleep.

I was frozen, wide eyed, not having expected an answer. "… uh."

The eye narrowed, the door closing more distrustfully. "If you got nothin' to say, then get off my damn porch!"

That jerked me to attention, a bit of my own irritation leaking through. "Hey, just wanting to introduce myself, since I'm new and all. This is Shiro," I motioned behind me to my still frozen and wide-eyed friend. "And I'm G –"

"I know who you are. And you're not new; you two've been here little over half a year. So don't give me excuses and leave."

As he began to slam the door, I caught onto it, now angry. "Hey now, I just wanted to introduce us, you asshole. No need to be so fuckin' rude. If you got issues, they ain't my problem, but don't you fuckin' dismiss me like I'm some homeless tramp. I'm jus' tryin' ta be neighborly."

The eye narrowed more as it looked me up and down. With an irritated sigh, the door slammed shut and I heard the chain rattle and suddenly the door jerked all the way open. Holy hell balls, I was not expecting what I saw.

The guy was a middle-aged man, though he didn't look it. If it weren't for the lines bracketing his mouth and the scowl furrows lining his eyes and brow, I'd have said he was about my age. His hair was shaggy orange and his brown eyes were tired and worn and angry.

That was the other thing that gave away his age; those eyes were too old and tortured to be my age. But that's not so much what surprised me, but the fact that the guy – despite wearing loose clothing – was obviously quite fit. How in the hell a man who never left his home stayed that physically healthy was beyond me.

His glare darkened as he stared up into my eyes. Even though he was only a few centimeters shorter, his glare made him seem quite a bit bigger. Obviously this guy had years to perfect it. Speaking of, he was beginning to look incredibly impatient.

Giving me a pointed look, he crossed his arms. "Well?" He snapped. "You wanted some of my time, so please, be quick about it. Your presence bothers me."

Gritting my teeth, reminding myself why I had come over here in the first place, I grinned sharply. "Right… Name's Grimmjow. I live across the street with the statue standing at the foot of your driveway." The man's eyes flickered quickly behind me at Shiro before returning to me unimpressed. "I had wanted to introduce myself to you, but I never saw anyone come and go. So… I was unable to work up the courage to come over 'til now."

He stared at me silently, as if waiting for more. Which was confusing and I motioned to him so he could read the social cue to take over the conversation but he just ignored it and continued to stare in silence. Pursing my lips, I stepped back a bit.

"And your name?"

His eyes narrowed and he didn't speak for a long time. "… Kurosaki." And he then proceeded to slam the door in my face, the sounds of reengaging locks filtering out. I stood there in stunned silence for the longest time.

"Wow. What a charmer."

Shiro broke me from my shock and anger quickly flooded me. I kicked the door as hard as I could. "ASSHOLE MOTHERFUCKER!"

Stomping down from the porch, I stormed towards my shit-eating, grin-wearing, bastard of a friend. He skipped along beside me, laughter spilling from pointed teeth. "I like him. Doesn't put up with your shit. Pretty cute too! Did ya see the way he stared you down? I couldn't tell if 'e _really_ wanted ya ta burst into flames or strip ya naked wit' his glare alone."

If no one saw me shove him into the garden bush, well then… it didn't happen, despite the long scratches running up and down his face and arms stating otherwise… as well as his curse filled screaming.

Well, I hoped that motherfucker Kurosaki realized that this wasn't over. _Not by a long shot_. He just picked a fight he shouldn't have picked; never with Grimmjow Jeagerjaques. I stop walking in my kitchen and stare at the floor, chuckling with little revenge plots.

… It's in this moment I realize… I suck as a narrator. I think. Maybe? Meh, who cares.

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Forgive me my delays in posting things I previously promised. I have been incredibly sick, heart problems and all. I was just recently cleared for exercise again but caffeine and alcohol are still withheld. Though, I am steadily feeling better and not like I'm about to die, so there's that.

I've been feeling completely severe lately, so a joke in possibly poor taste.

Two blondes fall down a hole and one says to the other, "It's dark in here, isn't it?"

The other one replies, "I don't know, I can't see."

I'm sorry. Have a great one everyone, thank you for making my day a little brighter.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you everyone who took the time to read last chapter. Here is the second one a week later as promised.

Happy Fourth of July to all my American friends today. Enjoy the fireworks and independence. To everyone else, happy update!

Enjoy.

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If there was one thing Shiro was absolutely fantastic at, it was holding a grudge. It has been what fricken… six days? Anyway, a _while_ since I shoved him into the bushes for his smart mouth. Honestly, the guy was just asking for it, dumb ass. Fuck, again. I'm a terrible narrator…

The reason being I haven't killed him yet, is I need his help to come up with ideas and ways to get back at that son-of-a-bitch-across-the-street Kurosaki. My pride is bruised and I hate that there's no way that I can think of to get back at this bastard. So, that means sucking it up and trying to schmooze my way back into my fuckwad of a roommate's good graces.

In a moment of clarity, I realize that somehow in my wanting to know the guy across the street, it degraded into this senseless and almost childish anger. Then I remember the way he dismissed me and I forget about introspection completely. _Fuck_ introspection.

As I nurse my beer, I scratch out another idea, waiting for Shiro to return from work. As the night slowly progresses, I steadily become more irritated and tired of tasting now flat beer. Yanking at my hair, I scratch out another possible idea. God if my friend Ikkaku were here he'd tell me I had way too much time on my hands.

Well fuck you too, Ikkaku. Work's been thin for me lately and ooooh my goooood…. It's time to go to bed if I'm cussing out friends who are talking shit in my mind and aren't even here. Pressing palms into my blurry eyes, I finally hear the sound I've been waiting for; the quiet hum of tires in our driveway.

I saw the lights flash as he locked his doors and heard the sound of his healed boots click on the cement as he climbed up to the porch. At the sound of a key jingling in the lock, I leaned back in my kitchen chair, becoming more comfortable. The front door popped open and he closed it behind him, locking it and then stepping into the kitchen, throwing his keys into the key basket. He turned to the light switch and flipped it on. He had bent over to start unlacing his boots when his eyes caught me in their peripheral and he jumped sky high like a rabbit and yelled, falling flat on his ass and scrambling away.

Staring at him in irritated amusement, I smirked. "Did ya jus' piss y'self?"

He froze in his crawling to the living room couch and looked back at me wide-eyed. Slowly, recognition took root and anger quickly replaced the terror. "God _damn it_ , Grimmjow! Gonna give me a fricken heart attack!" His hand held onto his chest as he panted for breath, standing up shakily.

He eyeballed me nastily. "Why the hell are ya up at five in the mornin' sittin' in the dark?" He glanced me over and grimaced as he caught a whiff of me. "Are ya drunk right now?"

"Nah, jus'a lil' tipsy." I glared at my flat beer and with a mental shrug, I threw the rest of it back. He grunted and plopped into a seat in front of me.

"Why are ya in here? And again, why're ya in the dark?" He leaned away suspiciously. "Are ya doing your creepy thing again?"

With a sneer, I gave him a slightly unsteady birdie. "No, not'a da m'ment. Bu', I need your help." I swiped at my brow, the alcohol in my system making me hot and sweaty.

He hummed in disquiet. "Jus' a little tipsy, my ass. How many of these things 'ave ya had, Grimm?"

Motioning violently through the air, I waved him off. "F'rget 'bout tha'… I nee' your help gettin' back'a this guy."

Shiro stared at me with his creepy black and gold contacts in complete confusion. "Grimm… the f— _what_ guy?"

"Kurosaki! Tha' b'stard 'cross the street!" I was rubbing at my tired eyes but I could still feel Shiro lean back in gob smacked surprise.

"… This couldn't have waited until the mornin'?" He hedged quietly, almost frightened sounding.

"Nah, knew ya wouldn'a spoken ta me 'f I'd've tried. This was the bes'way ta get ya ta talk."

"Oh what, by gettin' halfway tanked, half coherent, in the dark, and scarin' the shit outta me?" The edge was coming back into his voice. I stared him dead in the eye, even with his creepy face and shit.

"Yes."

His lips pursed for all of two seconds before he threw his hands in the air in a grand sign of overdramatic bullshit. "Fine! I give up! Fuck it! What ya wantin', Grimm?" He rubbed his brows. "Anything short of murder of course, cuz fuck it, I'm not goin' ta jail cuzza you!"

With a mighty scoff –and perhaps a little more than tipsy spittle –I glared him down. "Who said anythin' 'bout murder? I jus'wanna get back'a this guy."

Shiro pursed his lips again and sighed. "Grimm, I don't know… Why don't ya fricken break inta his house and steal somethin', ne? Quit draggin' me in your weird shit."

Blinking thoughtfully at the ceiling, I realized that wasn't a half bad idea. That… could've also been the booze talking at the time too. But once I make up my mind, there ain't a single way I'm changing it! And I'm thinking that Shiro realized that too, judging from the slightly pale look he sent me. He stood with a graceless mutter, "The fuck did I just unleash?" And stumbled tiredly up the stairs.

This would take some serious planning and cunning. So, that's what I did. Over the next couple weeks, I would park the block behind the Kurosaki house, and sneak in through that neighbor's backyard to hop their fence and climb over into Kurosaki's backyard.

… The fuck, right? Such a child, yeah? Fuck, man I know. I'm stupid. So stupid. But, I'm still going to do it.

And I kept staying there, listening for indoor sounds, and started learning a routine. The house would remain quiet almost the whole time, but the same time every day, I would hear the water start to run. And it ran the same ten minutes every time. So, I began to plot my revenge.

I would climb the back wall ivy, and hop into the window with the open latch, that's never shut, and hop inside. Possibly steal something or break some shit, haven't decided yet, we'll see. But either way, today's the day.

I broke into a crouched run, hopped the backyard fence, and pressed my ear to the siding. I hear the water start right on time and with a smirk, I began climbing. Pulling the window open, I hopped inside –with a tight squeeze and a painful shimmy –and looked around. I had landed in what appeared to be an office. There was a computer and a lot of paperwork. Deciding to ignore this room for now, I left to look for something better. Opening the door, I looked down a surprisingly very tidy hallway.

Pictures lined the walls of several people, but two women were incredibly reoccurring. Pushing past them, I snuck past the bathroom with the water running in it and went to the door right past it, opening it to find an empty guest room. Shrugging, I shut that door and went up the second flight of stairs. At here I saw that the pictures were strictly of Kurosaki and the two women; the little girl and the young woman.

Starting to get an unsettled feeling in my stomach, I bypassed these too and opened the closest door and was stricken with confusion. Dust covered everything in a thick layer as if nothing had been touched in the room in years, but that wasn't what was so confusing. It was the contents of the room.

Everything in the room appeared to be geared towards a little girl's. It was painted a now faded pink, with little frills and lace and dolls. Little floral dresses and hats, with berets and plastic jewelry were placed neatly in the room. I saw hand drawn pictures hung lovingly on the wall, stick figures with awkward proportions. They were each labeled; daddy and mommy and me.

My stomach dropped and I swallowed thickly, stepping out of the room nauseated. Rubbing at my mouth, I closed the door and stood there in silence trying to wrestle my stomach back into order. Glancing down the hallway, I saw anther two doors. Opening the closest was a bathroom so I left it alone and carried on to the last one, my hand shaking.

I opened this door and almost backed right back out. Every room on this floor was covered in a thick layer of dust. But, this was the master bedroom and it was set up for two people. The blankets on the bed still pulled back from sleep but obviously not touched in several years. There was a woman's robe laying on the bed and fuzzy slippers beside it. But then, there was a more masculine pair of slippers on the other side of the bed. A dress hung from the closet door, set out with a pair of shoes as if someone was getting ready for work a long time ago and had forgotten about it.

Something pushed through the silence in my mind.

 _Such a tragedy for sure. Such a sad, sad state of affairs._

Blinking back sudden guilt and sadness, I closed the door behind me and snuck back down the hallway and down the stairs. By the time I had reopened the window and had climbed out, the water had stopped running. I closed it and jumped to the ground and hopped the fence. I staggered to my car and sat in it in an awful feeling daze.

What the hell happened to that guy? It was such a sad house, that Kurosaki house. It practically suffocated me in there, the oppression of bad feelings nearly devastating. How did that guy survive in there?

Turning the car on and flicking it into drive, I circled around to my house and pulled in. When I entered the house, Shiro looked up form the book he was reading and pulled his glasses from his nose.

"Ah, the Psycho returns! How went the breaking and entering? Find anything good?"

He stopped picking at me when I said nothing to him and simply sat in the couch staring at the blank TV. I heard him shift uncomfortably in the kitchen.

"Grimm? You okay, man? Did ya see a dead body or somethin'? You're paler then a ghost."

"… Or something."

He stayed quiet after that.

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Another joke in terrible taste.

A man kills a deer and takes it home to cook for dinner. Both he and his wife decide that they won't tell the kids what kind of meat it is, but will give them a clue and let them guess.

The dad said, "Well it's what Mommy calls me sometimes."

The little girl screamed to her brother, "Don't eat it. It's an asshole!"

Again, I'm sorry. Best wishes, everyone.


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